Mimotopes of alpha-synuclein and vaccines thereof for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the use of at least one compound comprising the amino acid sequence: (X 1 ) n X 2 X 3 PVX 4 X 5 X 6 (X 7 ) m  (Formula I), wherein X 1  is any amino acid residue, X 2  is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E). X 3  is any amino acid residue, X 4  is any amino acid residue, X 5  is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of proline (P) and alanine (A), X 6  is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E), X 7  is any amino acid residue, n and m, independently, are 0 or an integer of more than 0, and wherein the amino acid sequence according to Formula I is not identical with, or does not comprise the 8-mer polypeptide fragment of alpha-synuclein having the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN, said compound having a binding capacity to an antibody which is specific for an epitope of alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN for producing a medicament for preventing and/or treating synucleinopathies.

The present invention relates to a medicament to be used to prevent and/or treat synucleinopathies.

Synucleinopathies are a diverse group of neurodegenerative disorders that share a common pathologic characteristic: in neuropathologic examinations characteristic lesions can be detected containing abnormal aggregates of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) protein in selected populations of neurons and glia cells. Alpha-syn (initially identified as PARK1 and PARK4) is a 140 amino acid protein widely expressed in the neocortex, hippocampus, dentate gyrus, olfactory bulb, striatum, thalamus and cerebellum. Alpha-Syn is also highly expressed in hematopoietic cells including B-, T-, and NK cells as well as monocytes and platelets. The exact role in these cells is not known but it has been implicated in the differentiation of megakaryocytes (platelet precursors).

The most common synucleinopathies include but are not limited to Lewy body disorders (LBDs) like Parkinson's disease (PD), Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), as well as Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) or Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation type I (NBIA Type I). The current treatment options for these diseases include symptomatic medications such as L-dopa, anticholinergic drugs as well as inhibitors of monoamine oxidase. However, all treatment opportunities currently present only lead to symptomatic alleviation but do not induce a long lasting, disease modifying effect in patients.

Lewy body disorders (LBD) are progressive neurodegenerative disorders characterized by tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. In the case of DLB and PDD signs also include cognitive impairment. Up to 2% of the population above 60 years of age in western countries develop the typical signs of PD/LBD. Currently only symptomatic treatment is available. Unfortunately, these therapies only provide temporary relief from early symptoms and do not halt disease progression.

The pathogenesis of PD/LBD is still incompletely understood, but it appears that genetic susceptibility and environmental factors are involved in the development of the disease. Despite all genetic advances, PD/LBD is primarily a sporadic disorder with no known cause (also called idiopathic PD/LBD). Patients suffering from this disease develop characteristic ubiquitinated intracellular inclusions called Lewy bodies (LBs) in the cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. Especially regions with high content of dopaminergic neurons or neuronal projections show this typical pathologic feature.

Recently, several studies could show that the synaptic protein alpha-syn plays a central role in LBD pathogenesis. In LBD, alpha-syn accumulates in LBs throughout affected brain areas. Additionally, it could be demonstrated that single point mutations as well as duplications or multiplications in the alpha-syn gene are associated with rare familial forms of parkinsonism. Importantly, based on results from overexpression studies in transgenic (tg) mice as well as in Drosophila melanogaster its key role in the pathogenesis of PD/LBD is underscored as these animal models mimic several characteristics of PD.

Another very important synucleinopathy is Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). MSA is a sporadic neurodegenerative disorder that is characterised by symptoms of L-DOPA-resistant parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia, and dysautonomia. Patients suffer from multisystem neuronal loss affecting various brain areas including striatum, substantia nigra, cerebellum, pons, as well as the inferior olives and the spinal cord. MSA is characterized by alpha-syn-positive glial cytoplasmic (GCI) and rare neuronal inclusions throughout the central nervous system. These inclusions are associated with striatonigral degeneration, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, and involvement of autonomic nuclei in medulla and spinal cord. The importance of GCIs for the pathogenesis of MSA is generally acknowledged and underscored by recent analysis of transgenic mouse models analysing the effect of alpha-syn overexpression in oligodendroglia. In tg mice overexpressing human alpha-syn both GCI-like aggregates and biochemical markers of MSA were observed.

Although the exact mechanisms by which accumulation of alpha-syn leads to the typical features of neurodegeneration in synucleopathies and the characteristic symptoms of synucleopathies are not fully understood, recent studies imply that abnormal formation and accumulation of oligomers of alpha-syn are involved in the degenerative processes underlying synucleinopathy. It is currently believed that such oligomer-formation for example in the synaptic terminals and axons plays an important role for PD/LBD development. Hence reduction of alpha-syn deposition and oligomerisation should be beneficial in the treatment of synucleopathies, especially of idiopathic LBD/PD and MSA and could present the first strategy for treatment of these neurodegenerative diseases in addition to the mere alleviation of symptoms resulting from current treatment strategies like L-DOPA application.

In Iwatsubo T. (Neuropathology 27 (5) (2007): 474-478) the correlation of alpha-synuclein depositions as well as its phosphorylation with a pathogenesis of alpha-synucleopathies is examined. The author of this publication found that serine 129 of alpha-synuclein deposited in synucleopathy lesions is extensively phosphorylated.

US 2007/213253 relates to mutant human alpha-synuclein as well as peptides derived therefrom which may be used for inhibiting the aggregation of the wild-type human alpha-synuclein.

In the WO 2004/041067 means and methods for preventing or treating diseases associated with alpha-synuclein aggregation are disclosed which comprise the use of alpha-synuclein fragments.

In the US 2003/166558 peptides are described which can be used to induce immune response to protein deposits.

US 2005/198694 relates to alpha-synuclein fragments comprising at least 100 amino acids and having a C-terminal deletion of 1 to 23 amino acids.

Although experimental therapies utilizing neurotrophic factors and grafting of dopaminergic cells have yielded promising results, alternative approaches designed to reduce the neuronal accumulation of alpha-syn are required.

Recently, active and passive immunotherapy has become of increasing interest as a potential new treatment strategy for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD), Prion Disease, as well as Chorea Huntington and Amyloid Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). For example, recent studies in tg mouse models of AD have shown that antibodies against beta-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ) promote the removal of amyloid from the brain, resulting in improved cognitive performance. Importantly, Aβ molecules are mainly located extracellularly and thus are constituting epitopes accessible to the immune system. In contrast to such ‘classical’ targets for immunotherapy, experiments have been performed to evaluate the potential of immunotherapy in reducing accumulation of intracellular pathogenic molecules. Vaccination approaches targeting prion protein and huntingtin have been shown to be effective in neurons of tg mice at reducing the accumulation of both molecules that, like alpha-syn, accumulate intracellularly. In addition recent experiments also describe anti-Tau and anti-SOD1 therapies as novel treatment strategies against intracellular pathogenic protein aggregates in AD and ALS respectively. Thus, there is compelling evidence accumulating that intracellular aggregates in brain cells might be targeted by immunotherapy. Indeed, recently a similar potential for the treatment of synucleopathies has been shown. Tg mice overexpressing human alpha-syn were vaccinated with human alpha-syn protein. In mice that produced high relative affinity antibodies upon vaccination, there was decreased accumulation of aggregated alpha-syn in neuronal cell bodies and synapses which was associated with reduced neurodegeneration. Furthermore, antibodies produced by immunized animals also detected abnormal aggregated forms of alpha-syn associated with the neuronal membrane and promoted the degradation of these aggregates, probably via lysosomal pathways. Similar effects were observed using passive immunotherapy with an exogenously applied alpha-syn-specific antibody. These results suggest that vaccination is effective in reducing neuronal accumulation of alpha-syn aggregates and that further development of this approach might elicit beneficial effects in the treatment of LBD and synucleinopathies.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicament to prevent and treat synucleinopathies on the basis of a vaccine.

Therefore the present invention relates to the use of at least one compound comprising the amino acid sequence

(X₁)_(n)X₂X₃PVX₄X₅X₆(X₇)_(m)  (Formula I),

wherein

X₁ is any amino acid residue,

X₂ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E),

X₃ is any amino acid residue,

X₄ is any amino acid residue,

X₅ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of proline (P) and alanine (A),

X₆ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E),

X₇ is any amino acid residue,

n and m, independently, are 0 or an integer of more than 0,

and wherein the amino acid sequence according to Formula I is not identical with, or does not comprise the 8-mer polypeptide fragment of alpha-synuclein having the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN, said compound having a binding capacity to an antibody which is specific for an epitope of alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN for producing a medicament for preventing and/or treating synucleinopathy.

The compounds according to the present invention are able to induce the in vivo formation of antibodies directed (binding) to alpha-synuclein, in particular to the epitope of alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN (including also alpha-synuclein fragments comprising said amino acid sequence). Antibodies directed (binding) to said epitope, however, show no or only a significantly lower immune reactivity to beta-synuclein than to alpha-synuclein. In contrast thereto, antibodies induced by immunising with the original alpha-synuclein epitope comprising DMPVDPDN bind surprisingly to both the alpha-synuclein and the beta-synuclein. Therefore, unlike the original alpha-synuclein or fragment(s) thereof, the compounds according to the present invention provide a specificity towards the disease related agent and avoid cross reactivity with disease unrelated beta-synuclein. This strongly suggests significant superiority regarding efficacy and safety, the latter in particular because of the neuroprotective characteristics that have been described for beta-synuclein. Hashimoto M. et al., J Biol. Chem. 2004 May 28; 279(22):23622-9. Hashimoto M, Neuron. 2001 Oct. 25; 32(2):213-23.

The alpha-synuclein specific antibodies induced by the administration of the compounds of the present invention might not only bind to monomeric forms of alpha-synuclein but also to multimeric forms. This allows to reduce the amount of oligomers of alpha-synuclein in the body of an individual to be treated. The reduction of alpha-synuclein is particularly beneficial in the treatment of synucleopathies.

The amino acid sequence (X₁)_(n)X₂X₃PVX₄X₅X₆(X₇)_(m) is considered to be a mimotope of the epitope of alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN. According to the present invention the term “mimotope” refers to a molecule which has a conformation that has a topology equivalent to the epitope of which it is a mimic. The mimotope binds to the same antigen-binding region of an antibody which binds immunospecifically to a desired antigen. The mimotope will elicit an immunological response in a host that is reactive to the antigen to which it is a mimic. The mimotope may also act as a competitor for the epitope of which it is a mimic in in vitro inhibition assays (e.g. ELISA inhibition assays) which involve the epitope and an antibody binding to said epitope. However, a mimotope of the present invention may not necessarily prevent or compete with the binding of the epitope of which it is a mimic in an in vitro inhibition assay although it is capable to induce a specific immune response when administered to a mammal.

As used herein, the term “epitope” refers to an immunogenic region of an antigen which is recognized by a particular anti-body molecule. In general, an antigen will possess one or more epitopes, each capable of binding an antibody that recognizes the particular epitope.

The mimotopes of the present invention can be synthetically produced by chemical synthesis methods which are well known in the art, either as an isolated peptide or as a part of another peptide or polypeptide. Alternatively, the peptide mimotope can be produced in a microorganism which produces the peptide mimotope which is then isolated and if desired, further purified. The peptide mimotope can be produced in microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast or fungi, in eukaryote cells such as a mammalian or an insect cell, or in a recombinant virus vector such as adenovirus, poxvirus, herpesvirus, Simliki forest virus, baculovirus, bacteriophage, sindbis virus or sendai virus. Suitable bacteria for producing the peptide mimotope include E. coli, B. subtilis or any other bacterium that is capable of expressing peptides such as the peptide mimotope. Suitable yeast types for expressing the peptide mimotope include Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Candida, Pichia pastoris or any other yeast capable of expressing peptides. Corresponding methods are well known in the art. Also methods for isolating and purifying recombinantly produced peptides are well known in the art and include e.g. as gel filtration, affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography etc.

To facilitate isolation of the peptide mimotope, a fusion polypeptide may be made wherein the peptide mimotope is translationally fused (covalently linked) to a heterologous polypeptide which enables isolation by affinity chromatography. Typical heterologous polypeptides are His-Tag (e.g. His₆; 6 histidine residues), GST-Tag (Glutathione-S-transferase) etc. The fusion polypeptide facilitates not only the purification of the mimotopes but can also prevent the mimotope polypeptide from being degraded during purification. If it is desired to remove the heterologous polypeptide after purification the fusion polypeptide may comprise a cleavage site at the junction between the peptide mimotope and the heterologous polypeptide. The cleavage site consists of an amino acid sequence that is cleaved with an enzyme specific for the amino acid sequence at the site (e.g. proteases).

The mimotopes of the present invention may also be modified at or nearby their N- and/or C-termini so that at said positions a cysteine residue is bound thereto. In a preferred embodiment terminally positioned (located at the N- and C-termini of the peptide) cysteine residues are used to cyclize the peptides through a disulfide bond.

The mimotopes of the present invention may also be used in various assays and kits, in particular in immunological assays and kits. Therefore, it is particularly preferred that the mimotope may be part of another peptide or polypeptide, particularly an enzyme which is used as a reporter in immunological assays. Such reporter enzymes include e.g. alkaline phosphatase or horseradish peroxidase.

The alpha-synuclein mimotopes according to the present invention preferably are antigenic polypeptides which in their amino acid sequence vary from the amino acid sequence of alpha-synuclein or of fragments of alpha-synuclein. In this respect, the inventive mimotopes may not only comprise amino acid substitutions of one or more naturally occurring amino acid residues but also of one or more non-natural amino acids (i.e. not from the 20 “classical” amino acids) or they may be completely assembled of such non-natural amino acids. Moreover, the inventive antigens which induce anti-alpha-synuclein antibodies may be assembled of D- or L-amino acids or of combinations of DL-amino acids and, optionally, they may have been changed by further modifications, ring closures or derivatizations. Suitable anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens may be provided from commercially available peptide libraries. Preferably, these peptides are at least 7 amino acids, and preferred lengths may be up to 16, preferably up to 14 or 20 amino acids residues (e.g. 7 or 8 to 20, 7 or 8 to 16 etc.). According to the invention, however, also longer peptides may very well be employed as anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens. Furthermore the mimotopes of the present invention may also be part of a polypeptide and consequently comprising at their N- and/or C-terminus at least one further amino acid residue.

For preparing alpha-synuclein mimotopes (i.e. anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens), of course also phage libraries, peptide libraries are suitable, for instance produced by means of combinatorial chemistry or obtained by means of high throughput screening techniques for the most varying structures (Display: A Laboratory Manual by Carlos F. Barbas (Editor), et al.; Willats WG Phage display: practicalities and prospects. Plant Mol. Biol. 2002 December; 50(6):837-54).

Furthermore, according to the invention also anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens based on nucleic acids (“aptamers”) may be employed, and these, too, may be found with the most varying (oligonucleotide) libraries (e.g. with 2-180 nucleic acid residues) (e.g. Burgstaller et al., Curr. Opin. Drug Discov. Dev. 5(5) (2002), 690-700; Famulok et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 33 (2000), 591-599; Mayer et al., PNAS 98 (2001), 4961-4965, etc.). In anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens based on nucleic acids, the nucleic acid backbone can be provided e.g. by the natural phosphor-diester compounds, or also by phosphorotioates or combinations or chemical variations (e.g. as PNA), wherein as bases, according to the invention primarily U, T, A, C, G, H and mC can be employed. The 2′-residues of the nucleotides which can be used according to the present invention preferably are H, OH, F, Cl, NH₂, O-methyl, O-ethyl, O-propyl or O-butyl, wherein the nucleic acids may also be differently modified, i.e. for instance with protective groups, as they are commonly employed in oligonucleotide synthesis. Thus, aptamer-based anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens are also preferred anti-alpha-synuclein-antibody-inducing antigens within the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention the term “synucleinopathy” includes all neurodegenerative disorders characterized by pathological synuclein aggregations. Several neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's Disease (PD), Lewy Body Disease (LBD), Diffuse Lewy Body Disease (DLBD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Parkinsonism with Dementia (PDD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation type I (NBIA Type I) are collectively grouped as synucleinopathies.

The compound according to the present invention may be employed not only for treating synucleinopathies but also to prevent said diseases in individuals being at risk of developing a synucleinopathy (e.g. predisposed, for example genetically predisposed, to developing a synucleinopathy).

The abbreviations for the amino acid residues disclosed in the present invention follow the IUPAC recommendations:

Amino Acid 3-Letter Code 1-Letter Code Alanine Ala A Arginine Arg R Asparagine Asn N Aspartic Asp D Cysteine Cys C Glutamic Glu E Glutamine Gln Q Glycine Gly G Histidine His H Isoleucine Ile I Leucine Leu L Lysine Lys K Methionine Met M Phenylalanine Phe F Proline Pro P Serine Ser S Threonine Thr T Tryptophan Trp W Tyrosine Tyr Y Valine Val V

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention X₁ and/or X₇ is an acetylated amino acid residue or cysteine (C).

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention X₂ is glutamine acid, whereby said glutamine acid may also be derivatized to pyroglutamic acid. If X₂ comprises a pyroglutamic acid X₁ is 0.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention X₃ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of glutamine (Q), serine (S), threonine (T), arginine (R), asparagine (N), valine (V), histidine (H), methionine (M), tyrosine (Y), alanine (A) and leucine (L).

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention X₄ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of glutamine (Q), tryptophane (W), threonine (T), arginine (R), aspartic acid (D), isoleucine (I), valine (V), histidine (H), proline (P), tyrosine (Y), alanine (A), serine (S) and leucine (L).

The compound of the present invention may also be part of a polypeptide comprising 7 to 16 amino acid residues. Consequently n and m may independently be an integer selected from the group of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20 and 25.

The compound according to the present invention may consist of the amino acid sequence (X₁)_(n)X₂X₃PVX₄X₅X₆(X₇)_(m), wherein n and m are independently 0 or 1 or being part of a polypeptide which comprises at least 7 amino acid residues, preferably at least 10 amino acid residues, more preferably at least 15 amino acid residue, and/or a maximum of 50 amino acid residues, preferably a maximum of 30 amino acid residues, more preferably of 16 amino acid residues.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the compound comprises a peptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of (C)DQPVLPD, (C)DMPVLPD, (C)DSPVLPD, (C)DSPVWAE, (C)DTPVLAE, (C)DQPVLPDN, (C)DMPVLPDN, (C)DSPVLPDN, (C)DQPVTAEN, (C)DSPVWAEN, (C)DTPVLAEN, (C)HDRPVTPD, (C)DRPVTPD, (C)DVPVLPD, (C)DTPVYPD, (C)DTPVIPD, (C)HDRPVTPDN, (C)DRPVTPDN, (C)DNPVHPEN, (C)DVPVLPDN, (C)DTPVYPDN, (C)DTPVIPDN, (C)DQPVLPDG, (C)DMPVLPDG, (C)DSPVLPDG, (C)DSPVWAEG, (C)DRPVAPEG, (C)DHPVHPDS, (C)DMPVSPDR, (C)DSPVPPDD, (C)DQPVYPDI, (C)DRPVYPDI, (C)DHPVTPDR, (C)EYPVYPES, (C)DTPVLPDS, (C)DMPVTPDT, (C)DAPVTPDT, (C)DSPVVPDN, (C)DLPVTPDR, (C)DSPVHPDT, (C)DAPVRPDS, (C)DMPVWPDG, (C)DAPVYPDG, (C)DRPVQPDR, (C)YDRPVQPDR, (C)DMPVDPEN, (C)DMPVDADN, DQPVLPD(C), DMPVLPD(C), (C)EMPVDPDN and (C)DNPVHPE.

Surprisingly, it turned out that the compounds according to the present invention comprising or consisting of the amino acid sequences listed above are particularly suited to be used for the manufacture of a medicament to be used to treat or prevent synucleinopathies. These peptides (mimotopes) are able to induce the in vivo formation of antibodies directed to the original epitope of human alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN and human alpha-synuclein protein itself. Said peptides (mimotopes) are, however, not able to induce or only able to induce a very limited immune reactivity against human beta-synuclein protein. Surprisingly, antibodies induced by original alpha-synuclein (comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN) are binding to alpha-synuclein as well as beta-synuclein specifically. Thus, said peptides (mimotopes) are inducing a more refined immune response (antibodies) as the original peptide. Mimotope induced immune responses, however, do not necessarily discriminate between alpha-synuclein and beta-synuclein. The peptide induced antibodies are responsible for the removal of alpha-synuclein (which is involved in the formation of alpha-synuclein aggregates, Lewy bodies) and/or for the dissolution of alpha-synuclein aggregates (Lewy bodies) in an individual.

The peptides listed above may comprise at the N-terminus the cystein residue or not, of course the C-residue can also be added to the C-Terminus as well. Therefore, the present invention encompasses the following peptides without the cystein residue at its N-terminus or C-Terminus: DQPVLPD, DMPVLPD, DSPVLPD, DSPVWAE, DTPVLAE, DQPVLPDN, DMPVLPDN, DSPVLPDN, DQPVTAEN, DSPVWAEN, DTPVLAEN, HDRPVTPD, DRPVTPD, DVPVLPD, DTPVYPD, DTPVIPD, HDRPVTPDN, DRPVTPDN, DNPVHPEN, DVPVLPDN, DTPVYPDN, DTPVIPDN, DQPVLPDG, DMPVLPDG, DSPVLPDG, DSPVWAEG, DRPVAPEG, DHPVHPDS, DMPVSPDR, DSPVPPDD, DQPVYPDI, DRPVYPDI, DHPVTPDR, EYPVYPES, DTPVLPDS, DMPVTPDT, DAPVTPDT, DSPVVPDN, DLPVTPDR, DSPVHPDT, DAPVRPDS, DMPVWPDG, DAPVYPDG, DRPVQPDR, YDRPVQPDR, DMPVDPEN, DMPVDADN, EMPVDPDN and DNPVHPE.

The compound according to the present invention may be used for the preparation of a medicament, in particular a vaccine, which can be used to treat alpha-synucleinopathy, whereby the medicament is particularly suited to treat synucleinopathy selected from the group consisting of Parkinson's Disease (PD), Lewy Body Disease (LBD), Diffuse Lewy Body Disease (DLBD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Parkinsonism with Dementia (PDD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation type I (NBIA Type I).

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the compound is coupled to a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, preferably KLH (Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin), tetanus toxoid, albumin-binding protein, bovine serum albumin, a dendrimer (MAP; Biol. Chem. 358: 581), peptide linkers (or flanking regions) as well as the adjuvant substances described in Singh et al., Nat. Biotech. 17 (1999), 1075-1081 (in particular those in Table 1 of that document), and O'Hagan et al., Nature Reviews, Drug Discovery 2 (9) (2003), 727-735 (in particular the endogenous immuno-potentiating compounds and delivery systems described therein), and others or mixtures thereof. The conjugation chemistry (e.g. via heterobifunctional compounds such as GMBS and of course also others as described in “Bioconjugate Techniques”, Greg T. Hermanson) in this context can be selected from reactions known to the skilled man in the art. Moreover, the vaccine composition may be formulated with an adjuvant, preferably a low soluble aluminium composition, in particular aluminium hydroxide. Of course, also adjuvants like MF59 aluminium phosphate, calcium phosphate, cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IL-12, GM-CSF), saponins (e.g., QS21), MDP derivatives, CpG oligos, IC31, LPS, MPL, polyphosphazenes, emulsions (e.g., Freund's, SAF), liposomes, virosomes, iscoms, cochleates, PLG microparticles, poloxamer particles, virus-like particles, heat-labile enterotoxin (LT), cholera toxin (CT), mutant toxins (e.g., LTK63 and LTR72), microparticles and/or polymerized liposomes may be used.

The compound of the present invention is preferably bound to the carrier or adjuvant via a linker, which is selected from the group consisting of NHS-poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) (e.g. NHS-PEO₄-maleimide).

A vaccine which comprises the present compound (mimotope) and the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier may be administered by any suitable mode of application, e.g. i.d., i.v., i.p., i.m., intranasally, orally, subcutaneously, etc. and in any suitable delivery device (O'Hagan et al., Nature Reviews, Drug Discovery 2 (9), (2003), 727-735). The compound of the present invention is preferably formulated for intravenous, subcutaneous, intradermal or intramuscular administration (see e.g. “Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations”, Sarfaraz Niazi, CRC Press Inc, 2004).

Typically, the vaccine contains the compound according to the invention in an amount of from 0.1 ng to 10 mg, preferably 10 ng to 1 mg, in particular 100 ng to 100 pg, or, alternatively, e.g. 100 fmol to 10 μmol, preferably 10 pmol to 1 pmol, in particular 100 pmol to 100 nmol. Typically, the vaccine may also contain auxiliary substances, e.g. buffers, stabilizers etc.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a peptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of (C)DQPVLPD, (C)DMPVLPD, (C)DSPVLPD, (C)DSPVWAE, (C)DTPVLAE, (C)DQPVLPDN, (C)DMPVLPDN, (C)DSPVLPDN, (C)DQPVTAEN, (C)DSPVWAEN, (C)DTPVLAEN, (C)HDRPVTPD, (C)DRPVTPD, (C)DVPVLPD, (C)DTPVYPD, (C)DTPVIPD, (C)HDRPVTPDN, (C)DRPVTPDN, (C)DNPVHPEN, (C)DVPVLPDN, (C)DTPVYPDN, (C)DTPVIPDN, (C)DQPVLPDG, (C)DMPVLPDG, (C)DSPVLPDG, (C)DSPVWAEG, (C)DRPVAPEG, (C)DHPVHPDS, (C)DMPVSPDR, (C)DSPVPPDD, (C)DQPVYPDI, (C)DRPVYPDI, (C)DHPVTPDR, (C)EYPVYPES, (C)DTPVLPDS, (C)DMPVTPDT, (C)DAPVTPDT, (C)DSPVVPDN, (C)DLPVTPDR, (C)DSPVHPDT, (C)DAPVRPDS, (C)DMPVWPDG, (C)DAPVYPDG, (C)DRPVQPDR, (C)YDRPVQPDR, (C)DMPVDPEN, (C)DMPVDADN, DQPVLPD(C), DMPVLPD(C), (C)EMPVDPDN and (C)DNPVHPE.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the peptide is coupled to a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, preferably KLH (Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin).

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical formulation, preferably a vaccine, comprising at least one peptide according to the present invention and being selected from the group consisting of (C)DQPVLPD, (C)DMPVLPD, (C)DSPVLPD, (C)DSPVWAE, (C)DTPVLAE, (C)DQPVLPDN, (C)DQPVLPDN, (C)DSPVLPDN, (C)DQPVTAEN, (C)DSPVWAEN, (C)DTPVLAEN, (C)HDRPVTPD, (C)DRPVTPD, (C)DVPVLPD, (C)DTPVYPD, (C)DTPVIPD, (C)HDRPVTPDN, (C)DRPVTPDN, (C)DNPVHPEN, (C)DVPVLPDN, (C)DTPVYPDN, (C)DTPVIPDN, (C)DQPVLPDG, (C)DMPVLPDG, (C)DSPVLPDG, (C)DSPVWAEG, (C)DRPVAPEG, (C)DHPVHPDS, (C)DMPVSPDR, (C)DSPVPPDD, (C)DQPVYPDI, (C)DRPVYPDI, (C)DHPVTPDR, (C)EYPVYPES, (C)DTPVLPDS, (C)DMPVTPDT, (C)DAPVTPDT, (C)DSPVVPDN, (C)DLPVTPDR, (C)DSPVHPDT, (C)DAPVRPDS, (C)DMPVWPDG, (C)DAPVYPDG, (C)DRPVQPDR, (C)YDRPVQPDR, (C)DMPVDPEN, (C)DMPVDADN, DQPVLPD(C), DMPVLPD(C), (C)EMPVDPDN and (C)DNPVHPE.

The pharmaceutical formulation according to the present invention, which can be formulated as a vaccine for, e.g., subcutaneous, intravenous and/or intramuscular administration, may be used in the treatment of any kind of synucleinopathy.

The present invention is further illustrated in the following figures and examples, however, without being restricted thereto.

FIG. 1 shows detection of alpha-synuclein specific epitopes by ELISA using a monoclonal specific for human alpha-synuclein at position 115-122.

The peptides p4446 (alpha-synuclein), p4449 and p4448 (human epitopes) are detected by the antibody. The negative control peptides p4447 (beta-synuclein) and p4450, p4451 (mouse epitopes) are not detected. The irrelevant peptide p1252 does not show binding in the ELISA assay. Data are presented in a linear scale.

FIG. 2 shows a detection of mimotopes by ELISA using a monoclonal specific for human alpha-synuclein at position 115-122. Data for two mimotopes (p4553, p4557) are displayed. The peptide p4557 shows weaker binding than the original peptide p4448. The peptide p4553 shows strong binding to the detection antibody. The irrelevant peptide p1253 does not show any binding in the ELISA assay as expected. Both mimotopes induce titers >1/20000 upon vaccination of mice and are considered as strong binders.

FIG. 3 shows detection of competition of mimotopes by ELISA using a monoclonal specific for human alpha-synuclein at position 115-122.

Values depicted are measured by ELISA using 40 μg peptide in the inhibition assay. The irrelevant peptide p1253 and the mimotope p4492 do not show competition compared to original peptide p4448. Mimotopes p4490 and p4491 show similar competition as the original peptide p4448. Competition is calculated by comparing OD in ELISA at 40 μg peptide concentration to the original epitope. All mimotopes are compared to this reference resulting in a competition index. Values around 1 indicate high inhibiting capacity. Peptides with a competition index above 5 are rated as non competing.

FIG. 4 shows an immune response against injected peptide and an irrelevant peptide.

A) Sera of immunized mice show high titers against their injected peptides (original epitope (p4448) and mimotopes (p4456, p4466 and p4467 respectively) after 4 vaccinations. Titers measured in ELISA are around 1:10.000 (OD half-max), data are presented in a logarithmic scale. As positive control for the ELISA an alpha-synuclein specific monoclonal antibody was used (CTRL pos). B) The same sera of immunized mice fail to detect an irrelevant peptide (p1253). Titers measured in ELISA are below 1:100 (OD half-max), more than 100 times lower than a signal from a monoclonal antibody specific for the irrelevant peptide (CTRL pos). As negative control no primary antibody is used. Data are presented in a linear scale.

FIG. 5 shows an immune response against synucleins following repeated mimotope immunizations.

A) Pooled sera of all animals within the respective groups show antibody titers against p4448, a peptide located in the C-terminal part of alpha-synuclein. Data are presented in a logarithmic scale. B) Pooled sera of immunized mice (p4448, p4457 and p4463) show titers against alpha-synuclein after 4 vaccinations. pooled sera of immunized mice (p4466 and p4467) do not detect alpha nor beta-synuclein (Titers measured in ELISA are much less than 1:100 half-max). Pooled sera of mice immunized with the original epitope (p4448) detect alpha and beta-synuclein. Titers in ELISA, which are less than 1:100 half-max are indicated by an asterisk, corresponding to values close to background. Most of the mimotopes tested induce antibodies that do not cross react with beta-synuclein. Data are presented in a logarithmic scale.

FIG. 6A shows a positive control stain using a commercially available antibody specifically detecting human a-syn. In 6B the same antibody has been used to stain non-transgenic mouse brain of the same area which fails to detect any a-syn positive tissue as this animal is not expressing human a-syn. In 6C a specific a-syn staining similar to the staining present in 6A is elicited by a mimotope induced serum (p4498 induced serum). A-syn positive staining in the murine hippocampus is characterized by the speckled staining patterns as shown in 6A and 6C. Arrows indicate three examples for such a-syn positive inclusions in 6A and 6C respectively.

EXAMPLES

An antibody which may be used for the mimotope identification according to the present invention detects the human alpha-synuclein-derived amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN (=Original epitope, SEQ ID No. 1) and full length human alpha-synuclein. It does not recognize human beta-synuclein. The antibody may be a monoclonal or polyclonal antibody preparation or any antibody part or derivative thereof and binds specifically to the DMPVDPDN epitope of human alpha-synuclein, i.e. it does bind to peptide and full length protein but does not bind to human beta-synuclein.

The mimotopes are identified and further characterised with such monoclonal antibodies (detecting a sequence within amino acids 115-122 of the human alpha-synuclein protein) and peptide libraries.

Example 1 Generation of Monoclonal Antibodies to Specifically Detect Original Human Alpha-Synuclein Epitope C-DMPVDPDN and Human Alpha-Synuclein but not Human Beta-Synuclein

A monoclonal antibody derived from the fusion “AFFiRiS 3”: Balb/c mice were immunized with original alpha-synuclein epitope C-DMPVDPDN coupled to BTG (bovine Thyroglobulin) and CFA (complete Freund's adjuvant; first injection) as well as IFA (incomplete Freund's adjuvant; 3 booster injections) as adjuvant. DMPVDPDN-peptide-specific, antibody-producing hybridomas are detected by ELISA (DMPVDPDN-peptide-coated ELISA plates). Human alpha-synuclein (recombinant protein) is used as positive control peptide: hybridomas recognizing the recombinant protein immobilised on ELISA plates are included because they are binding both peptide and full length alpha-synuclein specifically. Human beta-synuclein (recombinant protein) is used as negative control peptide: hybridomas recognizing both recombinant proteins immobilised on ELISA plates are excluded because they do not distinguish between the two different synuclein proteins.

The Hybridoma clone (AFFiRiS3/9 (internal name “A509”; IgG1) was analysed for specific detection of the natural human alpha-synuclein epitope DMPVDPDN. A509 recognizes the injected epitope as well as full length alpha-synuclein protein (recombinant protein; obtained from rPeptide, Bogart, Ga., USA) in ELISA. It however does not detect beta-synuclein protein (recombinant protein, obtained from rPeptide, Bogart, Ga., USA) in ELISA. Furthermore, the A509 antibodies do not detect the peptide encoding the mouse variant of alpha-synuclein. Similar results can be obtained with commercially available mAB clones (i.e. alpha-synuclein (LB509) Monoclonal Antibody Catalog Number SIG-39725; Covance (Princton, N.J., USA)).

Example 2 Phage Display, In Vitro Binding and Inhibition ELISA

Phage Display libraries used in this example were: Ph.D. 7: New England BioLabs E8102L (linear 7 mer library) and Ph.D. 12: New England BioLabs E8111L (linear 12 mer library) Phage Display was done according to manufacturer's protocol (www.neb.com).

After 2 or 3 subsequent rounds of panning, single phage clones were picked and phage supernatants were subjected to ELISA on plates coated with the antibody that was used for the panning procedure. Phage clones that were positive in this ELISA (strong signal for the target, but no signal for unspecific control) were sequenced. From DNA sequences, peptide sequences were deduced. These peptides were synthesized and characterised in binding and inhibition ELISA. To some peptides additional AA were attached to the C-terminus. Additionally, some novel mimotopes were created by combining sequence information from mimotopes identified in the screen. Both groups containing newly designed mimotopes were used to support the identification of a consensus sequence for a mimotope vaccination.

1. In Vitro Binding Assay (ELISA)

Peptides derived from Phage Display as well as C-terminally prolonged variants thereof were coupled to BSA and bound to ELISA plates (1 μM; as indicated in the respective figures) and subsequently incubated with the monoclonal antibody that was used for the screening procedure to analyse binding capacity of identified peptides.

2. In Vitro Inhibition Assay (ELISA)

Different amounts of peptides (concentrations ranging from 40 μg to 0.3 μg (serial dilutions), as indicated in the respective figures) derived from Phage Display were incubated with the monoclonal antibody that was used for the screening procedure. Peptides diminishing subsequent binding of the antibody to the original human alpha-synuclein epitope (amino acids: 115-122 of human alpha-synuclein protein) coated on ELISA plates were considered as inhibiting in this assay.

Example 3 In Vivo Testing of Mimotopes: Analysis of Immunogenicity and Crossreactivity

1. In Vivo Testing of Mimotopes

Inhibiting as well as non-inhibiting peptides were coupled to KLH and injected into mice (wildtype C57/B16 mice; subcutaneous injection into the flank) together with an appropriate adjuvant (aluminium hydroxide). Animals were vaccinated 4-6 times in biweekly intervals and sera were taken biweekly as well. Titers to injected peptides as well as to an irrelevant peptide were determined with every serum. Titers against the recombinant human alpha-synuclein protein and recombinant human beta-synuclein were determined starting with Serum 3 respectively. Pooled sera were tested against the original human alpha-synuclein epitope (aa115-122). In general sera were analysed by reaction against peptides coupled to Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and recombinant full length proteins which were immobilised on ELISA plates. Titers were determined using anti mouse IgG specific antibodies. For detailed results see FIGS. 4 and 5.

2. In Situ Testing of Mimotopes

Selected sera eliciting an a-syn cross reactivity were also tested for the ability to detect human a-syn on mouse brain sections in situ. For detailed results see FIG. 6.

3. Results

3.1. Identification of an Alpha-Synuclein Specific mAB:

FIG. 1 depicts the characterisation of the alpha-synuclein specific monoclonal antibody AFFiRiS3/9 (internal name “A509”; IgG1) derived from fusion AFFiRiS 3.

3.2. Screening with Alpha-Synuclein Specific mAB:

3.2.1. Phage Display Library Ph.D. 7 and 12

3.2.1.1. Screening with Monoclonal Antibody Directed Against DMPVDPDN

51 sequences were identified by screening PhD 7 and PhD12 phage display libraries in this screen: Table 1 summarises the peptides identified and their binding capacity as compared to the original epitope.

TABLE 1 alpha-synuclein mimotopes binding to the parental antibody Internal SEQ Peptide ID Binding number No. Sequence Capacity p4456 2 CDQPVLPD 3 p4457 3 CDMPVLPD 3 p4458 4 CDSPVLPD 3 p4460 5 CDSPVWAE 1 p4461 6 CDTPVLAE 1 p4462 7 CDQPVLPDN 3 p4463 8 CDMPVLPDN 3 p4464 9 CDSPVLPDN 3 p4465 10 CDQPVTAEN 3 p4466 11 CDSPVWAEN 3 p4467 12 CDTPVLAEN 3 p4484 13 CHDRPVTPD 3 p4485 14 CDRPVTPD 3 P4486 15 CDNPVHPE 1 p4487 16 CDVPVLPD 3 p4488 17 CDTPVYPD 3 p4489 18 CDTPVIPD 3 p4490 19 CHDRPVTPDN 3 p4491 20 CDRPVTPDN 3 p4492 21 CDNPVHPEN 3 p4493 22 CDVPVLPDN 3 p4494 23 CDTPVYPDN 3 p4495 24 CDTPVIPDN 3 p4496 25 CDQPVLPDG 3 p4497 26 CDMPVLPDG 3 p4498 27 CDSPVLPDG 3 p4499 28 CDSPVWAEG 3 p4553 29 CDRPVAPEG 3 p4554 30 CDHPVHPDS 3 p4555 31 CDMPVSPDR 3 p4556 32 CDSPVPPDD 3 p4557 33 CDQPVYPDI 3 p4558 34 CDRPVYPDI 3 p4559 35 CDHPVTPDR 1 p4560 36 CEYPVYPES 3 p4561 37 CDTPVLPDS 3 p4562 38 CDMPVTPDT 3 p4563 39 CDAPVTPDT 3 p4564 40 CDSPVVPDN 3 p4566 41 CDLPVTPDR 3 p4567 42 CDSPVHPDT 3 p4568 43 CDAPVRPDS 3 p4569 44 CDMPVWPDG 3 p4570 45 CDAPVYPDG 3 p4571 46 CDRPVQPDR 3 p4572 47 CYDRPVQPDR 3 p4635 48 CDMPVDPEN 3 p4636 49 CDMPVDADN 3 p4640 50 DQPVLPDC 3 p4641 51 DMPVLPDC 3 P4648 52 CEMPVDPDN 3

Legend to Table 1: the binding capacity is coded by the following binding code: 1:X describes the dilution factor of the parental AB.

binding code OD halfmax 1:X 0 no binding :0 1 weak binding :<5000 2 medium binding :5000-20000 3 binding as original epitope (strong :20000-128000 binding)

3.3. In Vitro Characterisation of Mimotopes Identified in Screening Phage Display Libraries with a Monoclonal Antibody Directed Against Alpha-Synuclein:

FIGS. 2 and 3 show representative examples for binding and inhibition assays used to characterise mimotopes in vitro. Data obtained are summarised in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.

From the 51 sequences presented 29 sequences inhibit binding of the alpha-synuclein specific monoclonal antibody in in vitro competition experiments: Additional 22 sequences were identified that do not inhibit binding of monoclonal antibody in in vitro competition experiments but still retain binding capacity to the parental antibody:

TABLE 2 Alpha-synuclein mimotopes identified in this invention giving positive results in inhibition assays Internal SEQ Peptide ID number No. Sequence Inhibition p4462 7 CDQPVLPDN 2 p4463 8 CDMPVLPDN 2 p4464 9 CDSPVLPDN 2 p4490 19 CHDRPVTPDN 2 p4491 20 CDRPVTPDN 1 p4493 22 CDVPVLPDN 2 p4494 23 CDTPVYPDN 2 p4495 24 CDTPVIPDN 1 p4496 25 CDQPVLPDG 1 p4497 26 CDMPVLPDG 1 p4498 27 CDSPVLPDG 1 p4554 30 CDHPVHPDS 1 p4555 31 CDMPVSPDR 1 p4557 33 CDQPVYPDI 1 p4558 34 CDRPVYPDI 2 p4559 35 CDHPVTPDR 1 p4561 37 CDTPVLPDS 2 p4562 38 CDMPVTPDT 2 p4563 39 CDAPVTPDT 1 p4564 40 CDSPVVPDN 1 p4566 41 CDLPVTPDR 1 p4567 42 CDSPVHPDT 1 p4569 44 CDMPVWPDG 1 p4570 45 CDAPVYPDG 1 p4571 46 CDRPVQPDR 1 p4572 47 CYDRPVQPDR 1 p4640 50 DQPVLPDC 2 p4641 51 DMPVLPDC 2 P4648 52 CEMPVDPDN 1

Legend to Table 2: the inhibition capacity is coded by the following code:

Weak inhibition means more peptide is required to lower AB binding than with the original epitope; strong inhibition means similar peptide amounts are required for mimotope and original epitope for lowering AB binding. Mimotopes are compared to the original peptide as standard. OD at 40 μg peptide used in the assay is used to calculate the competition capacity compared to original peptide.

competition code 0 no inhibition (OD of 40 μg peptide above 5 times of original peptide) 1 Weaker than original epitope (OD of 40 μg peptide below 5 times of original peptide) 2 strong inhibition (as original epitope; OD of 40 μg peptide below 2 times of original peptide)

TABLE 3 Non-Mimotope peptides and proteins: Internal SEQ Peptide ID number No. Sequence 1 DMPVDPDN p4446 Human alpha-syn (Full length; NCBI Acc. No. NP_000336) p4447 Human beta-syn (Full length; NCBI Acc. No. NP_001001502) p4448 53 CDMPVDPDN p4449 54 DMPVDPDNC p4450 55 CDMPVDPGS p4451 56 DMPVDPGSC

3.4. In Vivo Characterisation of Mimotopes Identified in Screening Phage Display Libraries with a Monoclonal Antibody Directed Against Alpha-Synuclein:

Female C57/B16 mice, 5-6 mice per group, were subcutaneously immunized with 30 μg peptide coupled to KLH. Control groups were administered p4448-KLH conjugate. As adjuvant alum was used (always 1 mg per mouse). The peptides administered were all able to bind to monoclonal antibodies specifically binding aa115-122 of human alpha-synuclein although some of the peptides did not inhibit the binding of the original epitope to its parental anti-body in vitro (in an in vitro inhibition assay). The in vitro ELISA assay to determine the antibody titer was performed with sera of single mice or pooled sera (see FIG. 5) after each vaccination in a two week interval (see FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively). The wells of the ELISA plate were coated with mimotope-BSA conjugate and an irrelevant peptide-BSA conjugate (negative control). The positive control was performed by reaction of the parental antibody with the respective mimotope-BSA conjugate. The detection was performed with anti-mouse IgG. Additionally, recombinant proteins were immobilised on ELISA plates and sera reacted accordingly.

For all mimotopes tested in C57/B16 mice, antibodies reacting to the individual injected peptide could be detected after repeated vaccination. Additionally, 2 out of 4 depicted mimotopes (see FIG. 5 and Table 1 respectively) developed antibodies reacting with human alpha-synuclein but not with human beta-synuclein. 2/4 showed no cross reactivity with recombinant proteins. Importantly, the original epitope DMPVDPDN led to an immune response which did not distinguish between the two recombinant synuclein proteins.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show representative examples for assays used to characterise mimotopes in vivo. FIG. 4 shows an example for in vivo characterisations of the immune response elicited by mimotope vaccination by analysing the immune response against injected peptide and an irrelevant peptide, containing an unrelated sequence. The original epitope p4448, the positive control peptide, and the mimotopes p4456, p4466 and p4467, elicited immune responses against the injected peptide (themselves) but failed to induce an unspecific immune response against an unrelated sequence (p1253).

FIG. 5 shows an example for in vivo characterisations of the immune response elicited by mimotope vaccination against full length alpha-synuclein and beta-synuclein. All vaccines tested in this example mounted a detectable immune response against the original alpha-synuclein epitope 115-122. Nearly all mimotopes and the original epitope tested in this example (exception: p4466 and p4467) furthermore also show reactivity with full length alpha-synuclein. However, the original epitope-induced immune response also detected the full length beta-synuclein protein thus loosing the specificity for alpha-synuclein and the ability to distinguish between the two proteins. In contrast to this finding most of (but not all) the mimotope-induced sera failed to detect beta-synuclein thus preserving the ability to discriminate between the two synuclein proteins and guaranteeing high anti alpha-synuclein specificity of an active immunisation programme, to obtain efficacy and an excellent safety profile.

3.5. In Situ Testing of Mimotopes

Mimotopes eliciting an a-syn specific immune response can also detect a-syn immunoreactive inclusions in transgenic mouse brain tissue. As depicted in FIG. 6, sera derived from mimotope vaccinated animals are able to stain a-syn positive structures present on mouse brain sections from animals overexpressing human a-syn. Briefly, sera positive for human a-syn reactivity in ELISA have been used for immunohistochemistry (IHC). Paraffin embedded 7 μM sections of mouse brain, mounted on Superfrost Plus glass slides, were subjected to IHC. Sections were incubated with sera (dilution 1:100 and 1:400 in PBS) and subsequently stained according to standard protocols for immunohistochemistry using VECTASTAIN ABC Systems, DAB and MOM blocking (all reactions have been performed using commercially available reagents obtained from Vector labs respectively and have been performed according to manufacturer's protocols). Counterstaining was performed with Haematoxylin. Slides were mounted in Entellan and subsequently documented using conventional brightfield microscopy. A monoclonal antibody specific for human a-syn (LB509, Covance) has been used as a positive control for synuclein detection at a final dilution of 1/250.

In FIG. 6A a positive control stain is depicted. In 6B the same antibody has been used on non-transgenic mouse brain of the same area which failed to detect any a-syn positive tissue as this animal is not expressing human a-syn. In 6C a specific a-syn staining similar to the staining present in 6A is elicited by a mimotope induced serum (p4498 induced serum). A-syn positive staining in the murine hippocampus is characterized by the speckled staining patterns as shown in 6A and 6C. Examples for the potential to induce a-syn specific antibodies include but are not limited to vaccines based on p4456, p4498 and p4562 respectively. 

1. A method of treating synucleinopathies comprising administering, to a subject in need thereof, a compound comprising the amino acid sequence (Formula 1), (X₁)_(n)X₂X₃PVX₄X₅X₆(X₇)_(m) (SEQ ID NO: 57)

wherein X₁ is any amino acid residue, X₂ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E), X₃ is any amino acid residue, X₄ is any amino acid residue, X₅ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of proline (P) and alanine (A), X₆ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E), X₇ is any amino acid residue, n and m, independently, are 0 or an integer of more than 0, and wherein the amino acid sequence according to Formula I is not identical with, or does not comprise the 8-mer polypeptide fragment of alpha-synuclein having the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN, (SEQ ID NO: 1)

said compound having a binding capacity to an antibody which is specific for an epitope of alpha-synuclein comprising the amino acid sequence DMPVDPDN (SEQ ID NO: 1).
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein X₁ and/or X₇ is an acetylated amino acid residue or cysteine (C).
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein X₃ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of glutamine (Q), serine (S), threonine (T), arginine (R), asparagine (N), valine (V), histidine (H), methionine (M), tyrosine (Y), alanine (A) and leucine (L).
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein X₄ is an amino acid residue selected from the group consisting of glutamine (Q), tryptophane (W), threonine (T), arginine (R), aspartic acid(D), isoleucine (I), valine (V), histidine (H), proline (P), tyrosine (Y), alanine (A), serine (S) and leucine (L).
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound is a polypeptide comprising 7 to 16 amino acid residues.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound comprises a peptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of (C)DQPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 59), (C)DMPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 60), (C)DSPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 61), (C)DSPVWAE (SEQ ID NO: 62), (C)DTPVLAE (SEQ ID NO: 63), (C)DQPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 64), (C)DMPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 65), (C)DSPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 66), (C)DQPVTAEN (SEQ ID NO: 67), (C)DSPVWAEN (SEQ ID NO: 68), (C)DTPVLAEN (SEQ ID NO: 69), (C)HDRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 70), (C)DRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 71), (C)DVPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 72), (C)DTPVYPD (SEQ ID NO: 73), (C)DTPVIPD (SEQ ID NO: 74), (C)HDRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 75), (C)DRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 76), (C)DNPVHPEN (SEQ ID NO: 77), (C)DVPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 78), (C)DTPVYPDN (SEQ ID NO: 79), (C)DTPVIPDN (SEQ ID NO: 80), (C)DQPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 81), (C)DMPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 82), (C)DSPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 83), (C)DSPVWAEG (SEQ ID NO: 84), (C)DRPVAPEG (SEQ ID NO: 85), (C)DHPVHPDS (SEQ ID NO: 86), (C)DMPVSPDR (SEQ ID NO: 87), (C)DSPVPPDD (SEQ ID NO: 88), (C)DQPVYPDI (SEQ ID NO: 89), (C)DRPVYPDI (SEQ ID NO: 90), (C)DHPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 91), (C)EYPVYPES (SEQ ID NO: 92), (C)DTPVLPDS (SEQ ID NO: 93), (C)DMPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 94), (C)DAPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 95), (C)DSPVVPDN (SEQ ID NO: 96), (C)DLPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 97), (C)DSPVHPDT (SEQ ID NO: 98), (C)DAPVRPDS (SEQ ID NO: 99), (C)DMPVWPDG (SEQ ID NO: 100), (C)DAPVYPDG (SEQ ID NO: 101), (C)DRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 102), (C)YDRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 103), (C)DMPVDPEN (SEQ ID NO: 104), (C)DMPVDADN (SEQ ID NO: 105), DQPVLPD(C) (SEQ ID NO: 106), DMPVLPD(C) (SEQ ID NO: 107), (C)EMPVDPDN (SEQ ID NO: 108) and (C)DNPVHPE (SEQ ID NO: 109).
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the synucleinopathy is selected from the group consisting of Lewy Body Disorders (LBDs), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Parkinson's Disease with Dementia (PDD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation type I (NBIA Type I).
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound is coupled to a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound is formulated for intravenous, subcutaneous, intradermal or intramuscular administration.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound is formulated with an adjuvant.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compound is administered in the form of a medicament, wherein the medicament comprises the compound in an amount of from 0.1 ng to 10 mg based on the total weight of the medicament.
 12. A peptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of CDQPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 2), CDMPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 3), CDSPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 4), CDSPVWAE (SEQ ID NO: 5), CDTPVLAE (SEQ ID NO: 6), CDQPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 7), CDMPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 8), CDSPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 9), CDQPVTAEN (SEQ ID NO: 10), CDSPVWAEN (SEQ ID NO: 11), CDTPVLAEN (SEQ ID NO: 12), CHDRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 13), CDRPVTPD (SEQ ID NO: 14), CDVPVLPD (SEQ ID NO: 16), CDTPVYPD (SEQ ID NO: 17), CDTPVIPD (SEQ ID NO: 18), CHDRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 19), CDRPVTPDN (SEQ ID NO: 20), CDNPVHPEN (SEQ ID NO: 21), CDVPVLPDN (SEQ ID NO: 22), CDTPVYPDN (SEQ ID NO: 23), CDTPVIPDN (SEQ ID NO: 24), CDQPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 25), CDMPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 26), CDSPVLPDG (SEQ ID NO: 27), CDSPVWAEG (SEQ ID NO: 28), CDRPVAPEG (SEQ ID NO: 29), CDHPVHPDS (SEQ ID NO: 30), CDMPVSPDR (SEQ ID NO: 31), CDSPVPPDD (SEQ ID NO: 32), CDQPVYPDI (SEQ ID NO: 33), CDRPVYPDI (SEQ ID NO: 34), CDHPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 35), CEYPVYPES (SEQ ID NO: 36), CDTPVLPDS (SEQ ID NO: 37), CDMPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 38), CDAPVTPDT (SEQ ID NO: 39), CDSPVVPDN (SEQ ID NO: 40), CDLPVTPDR (SEQ ID NO: 41), CDSPVHPDT (SEQ ID NO: 42), CDAPVRPDS (SEQ ID NO: 43), CDMPVWPDG (SEQ ID NO: 44), CDAPVYPDG (SEQ ID NO: 45), CDRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 46), CYDRPVQPDR (SEQ ID NO: 47), CDMPVDPEN (SEQ ID NO: 48), CDMPVDADN (SEQ ID NO: 49), DQPVLPDC (SEQ ID NO: 50), DMPVLPDC (SEQ ID NO: 51), CEMPVDPDN (SEQ ID NO: 52) and CDNPVHPE (SEQ ID NO: 15).
 13. A peptide according to claim 12, wherein the peptide is coupled to a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 14. A pharmaceutical formulation, comprising at least one peptide according to claim
 12. 15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compound is coupled to KLH (Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin).
 16. The peptide according to claim 12, wherein the peptide is coupled to KLH (Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin).
 17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the compound is formulated with aluminium hydroxide. 